Brandywine School District and its educators reached a new contract agreement Monday night. (Photo of Brandywine High School)

Brandywine, educators strike deal after teachers hit picket lines

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Brandywine School District and its educators struck a deal Monday night after a nearly year-long contract impasse. The district, which is the fifth largest in the state, agreed to raise the pay and protect the working conditions of more than a thousand public school teachers and specialists. “This is a huge win for teachers and specialists here in the Brandywine …

Laurel School District will have remote learning Friday due to staff shortages.

Laurel to go asynchronous due to staff shortages

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Another school district in Delaware is holding an asynchronous learning day due to a large number of staff expected to be absent.  Laurel School District announced Tuesday that “after reviewing staff attendance and considering our capacity to maintain a safe and effective learning environment, the district has made the decision to transition to an asynchronous learning day for both students …

A new survey shows that school climate has had an effect on teachers, perhaps pushing them away from the field in Delaware. (Photo by Media_Photos/Shutterstock)

Survey shows majority of teachers dissatisfied, likely to retire early

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

A lot of the state’s teachers are concerned about the working conditions in schools, and new survey results shared at a state committee meeting Monday night put hard data behind those claims.  The survey was presented at the Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force meeting. That group, created in March, is made of government and educational officials as well …

The Redding Consortium voted to remove Christina School District from the city of Wilmington as part of its proposed redistricting plan.

Redding votes to remove Christina from Wilmington

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The members of the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity voted Thursday night to remove the Christina School District from the city of Wilmington in a redistricting plan. Those for the move said that removing Christina’s three schools inside the city that don’t connect to the rest of the district will allow the consortium to better focus its efforts on the …

Pay scale suggestions for secretaries and custodians were approved by the PECC Monday.

School pay committee sets raises for secretaries, custodians

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Public Education Compensation Committee voted Monday on recommendations for how to raise pay for school employees other than teachers, but including secretaries and custodial positions. The specific group is cited under Delaware Code Sections 1308 and 1311.  The committee agreed to condense the five secretarial positions – clerk, secretary, senior secretary, financial secretary and administrative secretary – into three, …

The Public Education Compensation Committee will recommend a four-year timeline to increase teacher's starting salary. (Pexels)

Heated debate ends in vote to raise teacher pay over 4 years

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Defying the demands of the  state teachers union, a committee formed to make recommendations on educator pay voted Monday to bring teacher’s starting salary to $60,000 over four years rather than three.  The four-year plan will consist of a 2% salary increase and a flat dollar increase of $1,875 to the base salary for teachers, nurses and administrators each year …

The state teachers union is calling for Public Education Compensation Committee meetings to be moved to later in the day in order to allow more teachers to attend. (Freepik)

Teachers union calls for pay committee to #MoveTheMeeting

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Delaware’s teachers union is circulating a petition that demands a state compensation committee move its monthly meeting time an hour later so teachers can attend. Right now, the Public Education Compensation Committee, which is considering raises for teachers and other school workers, meets at 3:30 p.m. Lack of teacher voice “If you want to hear from educators, hold meetings when …

Delaware's teacher union is calling for its members to come together and ask for salary raises this year rather than waiting until 2025's budget. (Getty Images)

Union to teachers: Pressure compensation panel for ‘action now’ 

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Delaware’s teacher union is calling for educators and specialists to flood the Monday, Dec. 12, meeting of a teacher pay committee to pressure its members into giving raises to teachers this year instead of waiting for two years. The Public Education Compensation Committee voted last week to stick to a timeline that allows it to wait until Nov. 15, 2023, …

Delaware schools have hundreds of openings as students return for the 2022-23 year.

Delaware schools need 500 teachers. Here’s where

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

As the academic year gears up, Delaware schools still have more than 500 teacher vacancies to fill.  “We think about it as a perfect storm of conditions,” said Stephanie Ingram, president of the Delaware State Education Association.  Schools expected to have a higher than normal number of retirements, partly because of the stresses of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.  This …

A perfect storm for schools, teachers: No subs, bus woes, COVID

Betsy PriceEducation, Headlines

The principal at Southern Elementary School has had to find as many as 25 substitutes for teachers on one recent day. He has 60 classrooms. By 5:30 a.m. on school days, Jeffory Gibeault is already up and wrestling with how to man his classrooms. The principal of Southern Elementary School in New Castle has had to cover as many as …